Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies

Archie Rand's series of paintings, The Eighteen, presents an interesting test for the supposed inclusiveness of "postmodern" theory. A frankly redemptive investigation of Jewish prayer, it rejoices in the freedoms of postmodern figuration, but because it offers neither critique nor an account of identity formation, it is not—or rather cannot be—recognized as a "valid" postmodern work. In the end, this judgment says less about the quality of the work than it does about the limits of postmodernism as it has been construed.